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  • mauser
    Junior Member
    • Oct 2007
    • 26

    good price/quality ratio brands?

    Hey guys,



    I?m a newbie to this board, been lurking for a while now and apologies already if this topic has been discussed to death already.



    I?ve been thinking about the quality of the clothes we?re discussing here and the recently reported CCP quality control issue made me write here. However good the design or brand building is, I for one cannot stand badly constructed clothes that are being charged exceptional prices. One of the worst examples I can remember is an Ann D knit (was featured here on this board in the last year?s top 20) from last fall that I tried on at Atelier and it was literally falling apart when putting on. The price was 800 dollars as far as I remember, and based on the experience of trying it on, it would have stood for probably five wears before looking as fully beaten. Perhaps someone bought it at full retail nevertheless. Now half of the board is reporting about quality issues with CCP products.



    What are your thoughts about either the excellent quality-price ratio brands and/or brands that simply are exceptional quality and also show it in their pricing ? and what brands offer exceptional value at low to midrange prices? I wouldn?t want to limit the discussion to SZ approved brands only, so feel free to comment!



    I?ll start with the Italian shoe brand Alberto Guardiani and I?ll take a pair as an example. The pair is now 7-8 years old and been subject to extensive use and the Northern Europe weather which is moist to say the least and they?re starting to look now very similar to a pair of brand new CCP boots. Still have years of life left. Retail was less than one quarter of the prices CCP is charging ? and okay, prices on the whole have inflated since 2001 so they?re not fully comparable but you get my point. Another example, in my opinion, whether you will like it or not are all "upscale" Armani lines where the garments may be a bit boring, but suit the office very well and they last for years and years.



    Eagerly waiting for your thoughts!

  • Faust
    kitsch killer
    • Sep 2006
    • 37852

    #2
    Re: good price/quality ratio brands?



    None is my answer. If you would've asked me 5 years ago, I'd give you a handful, but today, everything is outrageously overpriced. That's the unfortunate state of affairs. :-( My psychological threshold has been exceeded, that's for sure.



    The only couple I can think of is Stephen Schneider, definitely Roberto Collina for knitwear, and N.D.C. for footwear. Again, they are all expensive, but a bit better value for money compared to other brands.



    I think today the best bet for finding value for money is to go to countries where designers still flourish and quality is still uncompromised. I am sure if you go to Paris, Antwerp, or Milan/Florence/Naples, you would be able to find some unknown brands that produce quality stuff.



    I think the best alternative to price madness is savvy shopping - this includes Ebay, Yahoo Japan auctions, consignment stores and discount stores. None of this is first rate shopping, but I will take a huge price difference over walking out of a clean, well lighted space with a fancy shopping bag.

    Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

    StyleZeitgeist Magazine

    Comment

    • Raw Edge
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2008
      • 428

      #3
      Re: good price/quality ratio brands?



      I've found the quality of items within a brand is hugely variable. Especially with brands that seem to go out of their way to push envelopes of how thin, unstitched, asymmetrical, etc a garment can be often end up just making garments that might fall apart. For example, while I own items by Ann and RO that are really high quality, I've definitely had your experience too, like when I was just in A and as I was putting on an RO shirt to try on I literally just put my thumb through it because it was just so damn thin.



      Also, there is clearly a huge divide between the people that are interested in garments for their pure quality and the people that are interest mainly in style. One thing that can be said for the "denim heads" and other assorted weirdos is that they end up doing a sort of quality control. While I personally don't need my boots to last for 15 years or my jeans to be 18 ounces of zimbabwe cotton, I still want to find stuff that is sturdy, so thats what I look for.




      Comment

      • mattjames
        Member
        • Mar 2007
        • 72

        #4
        Re: good price/quality ratio brands?



        I've been very impressed with every Lanvin item I've bought. Quality materials, well constructed. I haven't worn them into the ground or anything, but when you look at something by Lanvin, you know you're looking at something special.



        As for quality/price ratio, I don't know. It's a fairly expensive brand.

        Comment

        • Pinoy
          Senior Member
          • Dec 2006
          • 661

          #5
          Re: good price/quality ratio brands?



          Personally, I've been impressed with the quality to price ratio of The Viridi-Anne. Of course, this doesn't apply to north american pricing which is heavily marked up from Japan pricing. However, for what they retail in Japan, I find their clothing and footwear to be of excellent value.

          Comment

          • Chinorlz
            Senior Member
            • Sep 2006
            • 6422

            #6
            Re: good price/quality ratio brands?



            Odd that people are talking about problems with CCP quality. Never had a single problem... some of my pieces are almost a decade old as well.




            Like Daniel said, some of the best price:quality ratioitems come from Japanese brands.




            Julius is definitely up there. Every piece that has passed through my hands has been top notch.




            If we're talking about the upper echelon of price items, LUC is often on the more "reasonable" end of that and every piece is also super sturdy and of good quality. Rick has also never done me wrong and the benefit of his stuff is that it actually goes on sale hahaha.




            In general though, anything from the Continues line or its diffusion constituents is rock solid.




            For CCP, I've only heard of pretty minor things... the tearing of the paper cotton aside (that's an experimental fabric flaw, not a constrution defect), everything else can easily be fixed in a few minutes with some thread at home. I've not seen any of the tape seams come apart or any serious seams split as a result of poor manufacturing.




            Although MA+ is relatively new to the scene, everything seems to be made really really well... although prices on his stuff keep going up. Probably because he knows that people may complain... but they'll still buy. That bastard. Love and hate him.




            People also seem to like Diet Butcher stuff (yet another Japanese line of course).. and japan-purchased N(n) seems to be fairly priced as well.


            www.AlbertHuangMD.com - Digital Portfolio Of Projects & Designs

            Merz (5/22/09):"i'm a firm believer that the ultimate prevailing logic in design is 'does shit look sick as fuck' "

            Comment

            • Faust
              kitsch killer
              • Sep 2006
              • 37852

              #7
              Re: good price/quality ratio brands?

              guys, come on - all this stuff is way expensive. i don't think that's what mauser was asking at all. let's not turn this into another ccp discussion :-)
              Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

              StyleZeitgeist Magazine

              Comment

              • Bring The Noise
                Senior Member
                • Feb 2008
                • 338

                #8
                Re: good price/quality ratio brands?

                durability and quality arent the exact same things...for example my $80 nike football cleats have been threw about 3 seasons of hard work with probably around 500+ tackles, and i have yet to have a problem with them cracking or breaking, while still remaining comfortable

                Comment

                • justine
                  Senior Member
                  • Jan 2007
                  • 672

                  #9
                  Re: good price/quality ratio brands?



                  Yeah, if we're going to mention cpp/ma+; well might was well throw in Hermes in there! lol





                  To answer the original poster, I think APC has an acceptable price/quality ratio.






                  PS:



                  Btw, in term of price/quality ratio, a good one is a low one, kinda non-intuitive!

                  Comment

                  • Chinorlz
                    Senior Member
                    • Sep 2006
                    • 6422

                    #10
                    Re: good price/quality ratio brands?

                    I was just thinking.... Uniqlo!! Great jeans for sure!
                    www.AlbertHuangMD.com - Digital Portfolio Of Projects & Designs

                    Merz (5/22/09):"i'm a firm believer that the ultimate prevailing logic in design is 'does shit look sick as fuck' "

                    Comment

                    • philip nod
                      Senior Member
                      • Aug 2007
                      • 5903

                      #11
                      Re: good price/quality ratio brands?



                      [quote user="Bring The Noise"]durability and quality arent the exact same things...for example my $80 nike football cleats have been threw about 3 seasons of hard work with probably around 500+ tackles, and i have yet to have a problem with them cracking or breaking, while still remaining comfortable
                      [/quote]



                      if only life would be so perfect for me.

                      One wonders where it will end, when everything has become gay.

                      Comment

                      • Pinoy
                        Senior Member
                        • Dec 2006
                        • 661

                        #12
                        Re: good price/quality ratio brands?

                        [quote user="justine"] To answer the original poster, I think APC has an acceptable price/quality ratio[/quote]

                        That's interesting. Aside from APC's jeans, I think APC has a terrible price to quality ratio. Then again, I may just be biased because APCs prices have been rising dramatically over the past few years. I remember seeing a pair of derbys by APC selling for close to $500! Ridiculous.

                        Comment

                        • Raw Edge
                          Senior Member
                          • Jan 2008
                          • 428

                          #13
                          Re: good price/quality ratio brands?

                          imho APC makes high quality wool jackets and stuff, for the price, esp compared to brands discussed on this board. but its true they had a much higher quality to price ratio before their prices went up tho

                          Comment

                          • nevermind
                            Member
                            • Sep 2007
                            • 32

                            #14
                            Re: good price/quality ratio brands?

                            although i havnt paid any attention to APC in the past years, i can say that their fabrics they use are quite good. i have a few hand-me-down wool jumpers and pants from 4-5years ago that i wear frequently, they've held up good and they're easy to wash which is a plus.

                            Comment

                            • mesh
                              Senior Member
                              • Dec 2006
                              • 976

                              #15
                              Re: good price/quality ratio brands?

                              Apc quality definitely declined while prices skyrocket. No more apc for me unless on sale or the additional odd piece.

                              Comment

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